getting rid of bermuda grass around plants

nccmama(z8 TX)March 3, 2011

Any advice on how to get rid of bermuda that has long since invaded a couple of beds? I ignored the grass for far too long, and now it is quite established around my roses and crepe myrtles. I can't really spray Round Up since I don't see how I could avoid getting it on the other plants. Hand picking is what I have tried in the past, but I'm never able to get it all, and the grass comes right back. Vinegar doesn't do anything to bermuda (I've tried). It kills the top growth, but the roots still live. Any thoughts? Thanks!

I've used Grass-Be-Gone for years. It comes in a spray bottle all ready to go for $6 or $7. I like to stay organic as much as possible, but Bermuda grass is exceptionally hard to remove any other way.

Be aware that it takes a couple of weeks for the grass to start dying, but die it does, and it doesn't hurt anything not of the grass family. You can spray it right on the leaves of anything else and it's not affected in the least. I spray it in my borders of lirope with great success.

If the Bermuda grass is well established you'll have to keep spraying new sprouts, but eventually it will die out of the beds.

I found a product called Eliminator Weed and Grass killer at Walmart that claims to be safe for flower and vegetable beds. It does kill Bermuda. I would use a shield to keep it off the other stuff anyway.

Texazgal, did you see anything at Walmart that said it was a grass only killer?

Thanks for checking on it, but I'm thinking if it says WEED 'AND' grass killer it may not be a product like Grass-B-Gone that kills only grass and which can be safely sprayed on broad leaf plants without harming them in the least.

I haven't been to Lowe's yet to see what kind of grass only killer product they might be carrying now.

From year to year it seems like I have to find a new product for this, but between Lowe's, Home Depot, and my local farm supply store, there is always some sort of Grass Killer that ONLY kills grass, and it works like a charm on bermuda in flower beds. You'll have to spray it 2 or 3 different times over the course of a season, but eventually it will be gone.

I haven't looked this year because my old bottle still had a little in it- and I'm at work so can't look at the old bottle- but I do remember it was some weird stuff from the farm supply store and it smelled like petroleum. And yes, I spray everywhere that I spot emerging bermuda except directly on ornamental grasses. I have too much garden space to worry about trying to shield stuff.

I looked, and I've got 2 things that work. Ortho's Grass Be Gone, and Hi yield's Grass Killer. The Hi Yield stuff was bought from a farmer store, same place I buy 50 pound bags of fertilizer, and it was expensive but you dilute 1 or 2 teaspoons so it ends up lasting forever.